WA sculptures naughty but nice

Fancy "screwing by the beach" - or would the privacy of a windowless panel van be more your "comfort zone"?

If you're thinking, "oh my god", then relax - it's all in the name of art.

Of perhaps the art is all in the name.

Whichever way you view it, these and 70 other aptly titled works are expected to attract more than 200,000 visitors to the eighth Sculpture by the Sea exhibition at Perth's Cottesloe Beach over the next three weeks.

They may not be all to everyone's taste - certainly some of the titles are a bit risque - but if local reaction to Thursday's launch was anything go by, there was a sculpture to inspire everyone.

From the simple "fools gold" - a replica gold bar that says possibly more about the West Australian way of life than many would like to admit - to the sublime "convolution" - which looks like a rolling silver wave to infinity - the exhibits are as diverse as the artists themselves.

There are 32 sculptors from WA, 22 from interstate and 22 from overseas, including strong contingents from Japan, China and Denmark, and others from the US, Iceland, Finland and Italy.

All the works are for sale - with WA artist Jean-Marc Rivalland's iconic welded HZ panel van having already sold for what was considered a bargain $4800 - while a number of cash prizes are also on offer for the most popular works.

One lucky local artist, Paul Caporn, picked up the $15,000 WA Sculpture Scholarship for his clever and socially insightful work titled "dump".

The piece is a replica mining dump truck made from children's rubber play mats that looks to be perfectly functional from one side, but is crushed under its own weight on the other.

Carporn's statement about the piece reads: "Overloading a system eventually leads to its failure."

It's a wry view of WA's mining boom that has left other sectors of the economy - including the arts - behind.

"I don't have any disrespect for the mining industry ... it's just a shame that such money and technology and creative energy goes into digging holes in the ground," Carporn said after his win.

"It's a necessary kind of thing, but it would be good if more money was put into the creative sector as well."

Caporn said the $15,000 would go towards his next project.

Sculpture by the Sea is free and will run until March 19.

It is being sponsored by the City of Cottesloe which, as it traditionally does each year, will purchase one of the pieces for its own collection.